Policing Terrorism: a Macro-Structural Approach

• In Event: Criminal Justice Approach to Terrorism

Abstract

A limited amount of research has explored the link between disparities in police presence and the likelihood of terrorism at the community-level, including how this relationship might vary across specific ideological movements (e.g., far right terrorism, environmental extremism, etc.). However, empirical research on the policing-terrorism nexus remains somewhat under-developed. Drawing from prominent sociological and criminological contextual theories, the current study uses data on terrorism events from the American Terrorism Study (ATS) paired with police indicators from various official data sources (LEOKA, LEMAS, UCR) and the Census to examine how community-level variation in policing characteristics are associated with terrorism incidents. Implications for law enforcement and counter-terorrism policy directed toward specific types of communities are discussed.

Authors

• Andy Brooks, University of Arkansas

• Casey T. Harris, University of Arkansas

• Jeff Gruenewald, University of Arkansas